Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dancing With the Stars - Week 1 Recap

File Under: Television Obsessions

Season 7 of Dancing With The Stars kicked off on Monday with 13 celebrities, including Cloris Leachman, who at 82 years old is the oldest person to grace the DWTS ballroom floor. Cody Linley is the youngest to shake his stuff on the stage at just 18.

Monday the dancers came out and did their first of two dances for the week. There were some duds and some stars really shined.

The drama factor began early, already two went to the emergency room, thanks to rehearsal. Jeff Ross, one of the stars suffered an eye injury as he was poked by his partner, while Karina Smirnoff, partner of Rocco DiSpirito, turned her ankle.

New this season was the 3-night opening. The stars learned two dances, performed the first one on Monday then on Tuesday, one by one they were called upon to perform, all but one would perform, that couple would be eliminated.

First to go was Jeff Ross. He was a good sport about it but just didn't wow the judges or apparently the audience.

Most showed improvement on the second night but the ones who improved most were Rocco DiSpirito and Susan Lucci. In a category all by herself is Cloris Leachman who I can't say improved, but entertained the audience with her antics. Again, the performances were judged by both the three pro judges and the viewing audience.

Night 3 (thankfully there will be only 2 nights per week from now on!) was a recap show, with the musical numbers, professional dancers, witty commentary and the drama of the "guess who's safe now" stuff. After close to an hour, it was down to Toni Braxton/Alec Mazo and Ted McGinley/Inna Brayer. The result seemed obvious:

Ted was done, he was a perfect gentleman and appeared sad to be leaving.